Newbie Stupid question on acrylic paint

PappyVanWinkle

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Ok What's the difference between like let's say AK or Taymia Acrylic and going to the local paint store and getting a quart from there? Yes I know stupid, but hay I'm a newb!
 
Artist's paints use higher quality and higher amounts of acrylic resin & pigments , and no fillers such as calcium carbonate , talc etc .
They allow for very thin , high color density or translucent coatings that maintain adhesion .
" latex " paints like your nominal interior wall paint use acrylic resins but of lower quality and are often mixed with cheaper vinyl resins to allow for more coverage at a cheaper price . ,,, and contain large amounts of fillers and water .

In short , the 2 products are task specific .

You can use the much cheaper " craft paints " for model building though .
They're closer to the higher end artist paints than " house paint " , but with a coarser pigment and lower quality acrylic resin allowing them to be much less expensive .
They vary by manufacturer so ...
 
The paint manufactured for models come in sizes and an abundance of colors more adequate for building scale models, and when it comes to storage of all the paint you will buy, it seems you never have enough. I can't imagine having 100 plus quarts of paint sitting around taking up space. That's my take on it, as far as paint quality differences I'll rely on urumomo's reply.
 
Thank you guys, really helpful. I'm on a fixed budget and after I pay the outlandishly high cost for my model aircraft kit, I need to find a really cost effective paint. I really only do Miliyary jet kits so my need for 100s of colors isn't there, maybe 20 at most Lol.
 
Thank you guys, really helpful. I'm on a fixed budget and after I pay the outlandishly high cost for my model aircraft kit, I need to find a really cost effective paint. I really only do Miliyary jet kits so my need for 100s of colors isn't there, maybe 20 at most Lol.
Is this outlandishly priced kit going to be your first build as a new person to the hobby?
 
Ok What's the difference between like let's say AK or Taymia Acrylic and going to the local paint store and getting a quart from there? Yes I know stupid, but hay I'm a newb!
First, there's no stupid question, except the one that goes unasked. Or, if you ask the same question over and over again. That indicates a deeper problem.

Second, remember that "acrylic" doesn't mean "water-based". It's just that the more popular lines of acrylic paints today are water-based, ie, they can be thinned with water. Those include Andrea, Vallejo, Lifecolor, and various fantasy brands whose names escape me (Warhammer has its own brand, right?)

Tamiya's acrylics are not water-based; up until recently, I would have said they were alcohol-based, but I read someone refer to them as "lacquer-based acrylics). In any case, they're good paints, but I recommend using Tamiya's proprietary acrylic thinner with them, for best results (that's my own experience).

In my paint box, I have all of the ones I mentioned, except for the fantasy brands. I also use the craft-store brands Americana, Folk Art, and Apple Barrel, which are water-based. I use all of the water-based paints with a wet palette, and I have also airbrushed the craft-store brands. Their pigments are ground a little coarse, though, and I found that for airplanes, the finished surface was a little rough for my taste.

I also have enamels, like Testor's and Model Master, and some lacquers. The enamels I thin with mineral spirits, and the lacquers, lacquer thinner.

As far as going to the paint store goes, Sherwin-Williams, Behr, and similar products aren't made for scale modeling or figure painting, they're not formulated for our use, so it's not recommended to use them on say, a Tamiya 1/48 airplane model, or that Dragon thousand-piece armor kit.
 
What do you guys use to thin Americana paints for airbrushing? I have a collection of Delta Ceramcoat paints I began accumulating 15+ years ago, but these are useless with an airbrush.

For PappyVanWinkle, I too am curious what "outlandishly" expensive kit you are wanting to build. It's okay to be a noob, but for someone considering buying a bucket of latex paint to use on a 72nd scale aircraft or something, it says quite a lot about your noobishness---which is fine, but you really ought to build up your skills on a cheap, $10 Airfix kit or something before screwing up a $70 Great Wall Hobby kit and getting burned out and quitting the hobby.
 
To stevethefish: I use plain or distilled water to dilute the Americana paints with about 3 or 4 drops of Wicked Colors drying retarder ( seem to get better results with distilled). For my airbrush it works best if it is slightly thinner than whole milk.
 
What do you guys use to thin Americana paints for airbrushing? I have a collection of Delta Ceramcoat paints I began accumulating 15+ years ago, but these are useless with an airbrush...
I use tap water, but I wouldn't discourage anyone from using distilled water. Also, I don't use any other additives, like a retarder. I'll second WJB, I thin it to the consistency of whole milk.
The only caution I have for airbrushing craft store paints, like Americana, but also Folk Art or Apple Barrel, is that their pigments don't seem to be ground as finely as those in paints made for our hobby. I used them to apply colors on an airplane model, and the surface of the dried/cured paint was just a tad rougher than I would have liked. But for armor or sci-fi subjects, I don't think it's a big issue.
 
What do you guys use to thin Americana paints for airbrushing? I have a collection of Delta Ceramcoat paints I began accumulating 15+ years ago, but these are useless with an airbrush.

For PappyVanWinkle, I too am curious what "outlandishly" expensive kit you are wanting to build. It's okay to be a noob, but for someone considering buying a bucket of latex paint to use on a 72nd scale aircraft or something, it says quite a lot about your noobishness---which is fine, but you really ought to build up your skills on a cheap, $10 Airfix kit or something before screwing up a $70 Great Wall Hobby kit and getting burned out and quitting the hobby.
The gentleman I consider the King of Craft Acrylics
The one and only Chris Chapman.



I haven’t used Americana brand, but have used both Folkart and AppleBarrel with Future Floor Polish, Wax, whatever they are calling it now.
In a more or less 50-50 mix and sprays very nicely. With or without an primer coat.
I do highly recommend, straining the paint for any gremblies.
If you’d like to extend the supplies of your now dwindling Testor Acrylics, the same applies.
I definitely discourage this combination with both Tamiya and Gunze types because of their different formulations. Think sludge.
I can not take credit for this idea. An old response from the old ARC Q&A forum with the byline DangerAtom turned me on to this trick.
 

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